An incredible 424 of the world’s best junior surfers marched in a Parade of Nations along the boardwalk of the Punta Rocas High Performance Center to join in celebrating the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC). Held at the iconic break of Punta Rocas, the event will begin competition tomorrow, December 6, and run until December 14.
Representatives from a record 57 national teams make up the massive numbers. Members from each nation joined in the traditional ISA Sands of the World ceremony, pouring sand from their home beaches into one container as a symbol of the peaceful gathering of nations of the world through surfing.
Four teams — Angola, India, Saint Lucia, and Slovenia — are present to compete in the WJSC for the first time. For Saint Lucia, one of the newest ISA member nations, it is their first-ever ISA participation.
The athletes gathered were represented on stage by Australia Team Captain Milla Coco Brown (AUS), who swore an oath of good sportsmanship alongside ISA Judge Jacqueline Silva. Also present on stage were National Director of Recreation and Promotion of Sport for the IPD, Jose Luis Casas, FENTA President, Elfri Alfonso Navarrete Narro, and ISA Vice Presidents, Karin Sierralta and Jean-Luc Arassus.
Ten former medalists were amongst the large crowd, including 2024 U/16 World Champions Ziggy Aloha Mackenzie (AUS) and Dylan Donegan (ESP), who will both compete in the U/18 division for the first time. Two-time U/16 medalists Clémence Schorsch (FRA) and Lukas Skinner (ENG) were also present, more determined than ever to claim gold as they debut in the U/18 division.
The WJSC has established itself as a proven pathway to the Olympic Games — of the 72 surfers to have competed at the Olympics so far, 59 previously participated in the event, with 32 earning ISA World Junior medals. This year, the youngest Olympic surfer, Siqi Yang (CHN), will make history as the first current Olympian to return to the WJSC after competing in Paris 2024 at just 15-years-old.
The ceremony closed with a display of the traditional caballitos de totora being ridden in the waves of Punta Rocas, recognizing the long history of surfing in Peru.
